The business and culture of our digital lives, from the L.A. Times

Microsoft apologizes for Amy Winehouse tweet

One could feel a tiny bit bad for the person at Microsoft's British PR team who tweeted "Remember Amy Winehouse by downloading the ground-breaking Back to Black over at Zune."

He or she must be having a terrible day.

On one hand, it may have seemed like a sensible marketing move: The person was probably correct in thinking that people might want to remember the singer, who was found dead in London on Saturday, by listening to her music. On the other hand, it reads as an insensitive way for Microsoft to cash in on the tragedy surrounding the 27-year-old performer.

Most of the Twittersphere has seen it in the insensitive light, and they've been tweeting and retweeting about it all morning.

"Cheap"

"Ouch"

"Vile-leaches--seriously?"

"Gross"

"Utterly tasteless"

"Vultures"

"Real smooth"

"Wow"

And that's just a tiny sampling of the Twitter-river of venom the post has inspired.